Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-03-20

i.Miss Brownie said SAM, solemnly,
"it's them boys. There's plekins ana
stealins agoin' on about yer dat's a aus
grace to a spectacle neighborhood. It's
Things to eat that's most gin'slly always
stole, A man wild u head fur fggers would
know from dat ar fac 'twus boys done it,"
said Sam with q modest pride. Them
derned boys!h :,
az wonder where the boys are" SAID
Mrs. Carsrone one evening. You ought
10 look after them better, Shirley, 1 don't
know what You are about evenings.
and Percy are out every night There's
PET GONE. too. We called him Pet when
he was little, because he was so delicate
and pretty. and looked like a girl. he was
that cowardly that he would scream with
fright if his father so much as set him up
ON a gate post. 1t seemed as if he always
would be afraid of the dark. THINK ne
getting over it lately"
Shirley might have told her mother what
she was about evenings. But she did not
II know where the boys go nights,
mamma" said little ~S-year-old Harry.
THEY'RE in Robbers Cave
what" said Shirley.
They are in Robbers Gave, that's where
they are Shirley. They won't tell me, but
l followed them one night. glimpsed at
them through the curtain. I'm not AFRAID
of the dark"
Harry was a brave little man, and be
ligerent.
7s'They steal corn, and eggs, and chick
ems, and roast them in the ashes, and eat
them" continued the child. The smoke
pets into their eyes, and they get cold and
muddy. but they say the grub tastes ever
80 much better than the cooking at home.
They call it grub"
where's Robbers Cave?"
Get the lantern, ShiI ley, and I'll a
YOU there. The enemy ii surprise en-
Rip is the robber chief, though he's the
Iittlest. They've got whisky there. They
have lots of other things, too, and when
they get enough they're going to run away
and Rips going to sell them n they re
going TO start a rObber band In the west,
Rip says"
why didn't you tell me this before,
Harry -,
81 ONLY heard 'em talk last night. l
found their cave long ago. It's dug in the
hillside. and covered with leaves and weeds
and limbs of trees. Nobody would ever
know twas Robbers Cave. They crawl
in underground, and they lay q flat rock
over the hole. They've a curtain to shut
out the light. When they hear a noise
they say 'douse yer glim.' That means
put out the light. They think it's the
awfuleSt fun"
All this time Shirley and the child were
walking rapidly over stones, underground
and mud to an out-of-the-road little raVlne
a quarter of a mile away. Harry stopped
with mathematical exactness at a large flat
rock. 1t looked extremely innocent. They
move it and made a little noise.
''Douse yer glim!' they heard a voice
say. q,
f'Stand here, sis, right by the curtain, y
WHISPERED Harry. 80 no! fellers the enemy
il upOn yOu!' he shouted aloud.
There was a stumble aud a push against
the curtain. But in the blind darkness the
amateur robbers could not get ont.
"Now we've got You where Moses was
when the light went out said the tanta-
lizing child. Guess that condrum. Say,
bows where was Moses when the light went
OUT"
No answer. Shirley lifted the curtain
suddenly and let light into the proceed
ings. As she did so half n dozen boys
lodged back into the recess of an under
ground hole deep enough to stand upright
in. Among them were Tom, Rercy and
Pet Carstone. The rest quickly made
their escape. They skunk in silence before
a glance of command which they knew too
we'll to disobey. The cave looked like q
Junk shop.
Shirley picked up and threw down in
rapid succession, respectively, a meat knife,
a rusty pistol, a jewsharp, and n coil Of
rope: c.hor,
sword in this dirt hole! Now tell me-
did this? You, Petite boy father used
to sing to sleep in his arms till you were
five years old because you were afraid of
the dark? Nice boy you are, aren't you"'
lie hung his head.
The Carstone boys surrendered uncon-
d~itionallv to General Shirley. Three fallen
heroes marched sullenly and silently in
front of the enemy to the house. They
vanished ignobly to their dungeon cells,
otherwise their beds.
And Shirley-well, when Shirley had
DISPOSED of them, she vent to the room
mutually occupied by herself and the
Youngest CarstOne, and sat down and
laughed rs she had done in years. 1t was
the youth i'll her that laughed-thc daring
fun loving, eternal youth.
But there was no more Robbers Cave.
The boys had a deep grudge at the Pres
byteiian minister. How they paid it oil
remains TO be recorded. This deyOut and
learned man was extremely dignitied. He
was also particular in his personal appear
ancc. What could he more proper in a
teacher of that gospel which proclaims
that cleanliness is next to godliness? Moth
ing.
From much delving in lore and much
profound thought, the good man had lost
his hair prcmaturely. The sisters in the
church had it that their pastor had studied
the hair off his head. In truth, he was
as bald as an onion.
He may be easily ~pardoned for seeking to
remedy his misfortune as best he might.
The good man wore n wig. But it was
not vanity that lead him to wear a wig. 1t
was to keep lin from taking cold. He
himself said it. Getting an influenza in
the head was bad for the effectiveness Of
religious oratory. He had to be particu-
lar on this point. Therefore, no living
creature il Linwood had ever seen the
minister without his wig, unless it was the
cat. Being a widower may or may not
have emphasized the liability to influenza.
At any rate, though, nothing could be
more dignifed and decofous and spotless
than the reverend gentleman's appearance,
wig and all. The ladies of the church took
pride in it.
Twas prayer meeting night. In the
back of the church was a door, long I'M
used. 1t was directly in the rear of the
platform wherein the minister sat.
The people were assembled for the he
ginning of the service. The minister was
in his place. Near the platform, likewise
in his proper place, sat Deacon Durham,
most rigid and deyout of all.
1t was the impressive moment when the
exercises were about beginning. The min
lister had already said ''ahem'' TO clear his